Effects of the Heat Transfer Fluid Selection on the Efficiency of a Hybrid Concentrated Photovoltaic and Thermal Collector

Catarina Sofia Campos, João Paulo N. Torres and João F. P. Fernandes
Additional contact information
Catarina Sofia Campos: Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal
João Paulo N. Torres: Instituto de Telecomunicações, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal
João F. P. Fernandes: Institute of Mechanical Engineering (IDMEC), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: This work focuses on the performance study of the PowerCollector™, a concentrated photovoltaic thermal system with a custom-made geometry and a photovoltaic cell cooling technology. To do so, a model that portrays the behavior of this concentrating solar system was developed. In order to validate all the information obtained with its simulation, measurements were taken from an experimental setup and were compared to the respective results predicted by this exact same model. It should be noted that all these procedures were based on the fluid for which the PowerCollector™ has been designed (water). Hence, the efficiency enhancement using nanofluids was also considered, as data from some studies addressing this issue were analyzed. Alongside all of this, the corrosion and erosion effects on the pipes incorporated in this system and originated by all the fluids mentioned throughout this investigation were also evaluated. In summary, with this entire study, it could be concluded that nanofluids may represent an appropriate alternative to water, as long as they are chosen according to all particularities of each case.

Keywords: corrosion; electrical and thermal efficiency; nanofluid; PowerCollector™ (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/9/1814/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/9/1814/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:9:p:1814-:d:230660

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().